Thursday 8 May
Today was the day when we were up early enough to say ’Good Morning Vietnam.’ By five o’clock we were ready in our bus to get out of Hanoi and head north to Sa Pa. Near the hotel there was very little going on but as soon as we got onto one of the bigger roads we were surprised to see how busy a lot of people are at that time of the morning. We passed two big wholesale markets – one with vegetables which had been busy since one o’clock am and was about to close down, and another with flowers which was still busy. The traffic towards Hanoi was also quite heavy while it was easy driving out of town. In the first couple of hours we met a lot of children on their way to school whenever we were near a village or town. We had a long way ahead of us – about 400 km - and to begin with the roads were good, but it did not last long before they became of a varying quality – to put it mildly. With some short breaks and a lunch break we expected to be able to do the trip in twelve hours which is hard to understand for a Dane. In the end it took us 13 hours, so we were quite groggy when we checked in at the Lotus Hotel in Sa Pa!
But the landscape on the way was very, very beautiful, and the nature here is wonderful. There are mountains and valleys with lots of trees and rice fields in terraces down the mountains.
When you close your eyes you see cows, water buffaloes, mopeds, cars and children on bikes in front of you. After a few hours’ drive mountains appeared. The roads are quite bad in many places so our average speed was very low, but we became loaded with beautiful impressions all along. Sometimes the chauffeur would brake very suddenly because he spotted a big hole in the road, or the road was bumpy for some time which made the car rock and made us jump up and down in our seats.
About 30 km before our end goal we came to Loa Cai where the Red River runs and forms the border between Vietnam and China. We made a stop there and glanced across the river to China. The last kilometres the road went up and up with breathtaking views both up and down. We have seen many advertisements for Sa Pa and they always show you exactly what we saw here. But we did not see as much rice as we had expected. It looks as if it has not yet been planted. Maybe because the temperature is lower up here in the mountains than further south. We rested a while before we had dinner and I think most of us are about to go to bed now. As I sit here and write I can feel the movements of the car in my body. It has been a hot day but here the temperature is somewhat below what we have been used to, so we find it quite strange!
Friday 9 May
We were rather tired when we turned in last night, but the temperature in Sa Pa is moderate so we had a good night’s sleep even without air-condition. At breakfast we could enjoy looking at the mountains and then we all made ready for a trekking trip downhill, except Jørgen who had decided to stay in Sa Pa. We had a local guide – a young girl from one of the ethnic minorities – Hmong, but Khoa also took part in the walking. When we were ready outside the hotel the group had grown to more than double size as a large group of women from the same minority as our guide wanted to come along. They were almost fighting in order to be able to walk next to us and to get into contact with us “Where you from?” “What your name?” “Have you any babies?” the last one a funny question to over-sixties. To start with we found them a bit irritating but before the day was over we appreciated the help they offered us. Rather quickly they had ‘divided’ us among them so that they each followed the same most of the time. We started our walking on an ordinary road leading downhill but soon left the road and walked on small rough paths. Before we began our walk we had bought bamboo sticks which were a good support, and our followers were always ready with a helping hand if it was needed. It was unbelievably beautiful wherever we looked and to begin with we made a lot of stops to take pictures. We came very close to water buffaloes ploughing rice fields with very simple ploughs made of wood. We saw rice under water – rice already growing and fields where the rice had not yet planted. There were waterfalls and a river to look at and - as we have tried it before - it was like entering a beautiful picture. We also passed through villages with lots of stalls in front of the houses where the owner sits patiently waiting for some trade. The weather changed several times during the day. It became quite hot, but the path we walked on is used by many tourists so quite often we could buy something to drink and rest for a while. After such a break it suddenly began to rain. It was only a light shower that stopped quickly but enough to make the paths slippery. When we had one of our breaks we noticed a group of people and were told by our guide that they were teachers from the local school who had their lunch break there. She told us that they live in Sa Pa, come down to the school on motorbikes every day, but have a 40 minute walk before they reach the school and then of course the same when they go home! When we went on it was boiling hot. We should have visited a girl called Lan that Henning knows, but when we came to her parents’ house we were told that she had been married and now lived with her parents-in-law.
We had a look into the house and although they did not have much, they had a television and I also noticed a beautiful cupboard with inlaid mother-of-pearl. At one time we had to cross a stream and that was when our followers stepped in and showed us their worth. They offered us a firm hand so we got safely across. At about one o’clock we had our lunch – baguette, egg, sausage and fruit - which we had brought with us from the hotel. But before we had our lunch it was time for our friends to try and sell us something. So out of their bags came all their purses and fine little bags made by them, and as we had been pleased with their help I think we all bought some souvenirs, so their wages for the day were earned. When we had eaten we went on. We were a long way from home so we were pleased when we reached a suspension bridge because we had been told that a taxi would come and pick us up there. And we had walked far, because we had a 20 km drive back to the hotel. Shortly after we had returned – at about 3 in the afternoon – tired, but feeling extremely well – it suddenly began to rain heavily and also to thunder. The electricity went but is working again. It is wet outside and suddenly you long for the heat from this afternoon and from all the time in Vietnam up to this point. It is not cold – we are still in shorts and short sleeves, but we miss the sun! We meet again at 7.30 pm for dinner.
Saturday 10 May
Today is Whit Saturday but we follow our program and don’t think so much about whether it is Saturday or Monday. But we do realize that suddenly time is getting short for us as our last week in Vietnam starts tomorrow! What happened to all the time we have spent here? Difficult question to answer but as soon as we start saying: Do you remember when we were there... – or - when we did that..? We think of all our experiences and then we do understand that a long time has passed and given us many wonderful memories! Today we have been walking both in the morning and the afternoon. This morning we were driven down the mountain to a village about 10 km from Sa Pa. The inhabitants are Red Dzau - one of the many ethnic minorities from the North.
When we arrived in the village we felt like VIPs’ because a lot of women in their characteristic clothes had gathered and were obviously waiting for us. As soon as the bus stopped they all tried to get closest to the door and when we got out they swarmed about us meeting us very friendly and with the usual questions– where we came from, what our names were and how old we were. And also here they found out how to divide the tourists among them, and then we had our followers for the rest of the walk. The houses in this village were mostly made of timber and very plain. We were inside one which was sparsely equipped – the floor made of clay, a mosquito net around their bed, a shelf along the wall to put their things on, a place to cook and little more. We walked through the village and the intention was that we should cross the rice fields on the groynes. But we were told that we might have to walk in deep water so half the group walked back the same way as we had come, while the rest together with our followers started out across the fields. It never became really difficult and we enjoyed the walk although there were three streams to pass on the way. All the time our followers were ready to help us through and apart from wet sandals nobody got wet. In some places we had to balance on very narrow groynes and as the rice had not yet been planted the fields were just one big mud poodle, but we all got across without falling in. When we got back to the village we passed the school and had a look into one of the classrooms where they had a music lesson. While walking across the fields the Red Dzau women had carried baskets on their bags and now the time had come to show us their goods. The women wanted to sell at the highest price and we bargained with them as best we could. When we returned to Sa Pa we went to the market to have our lunch.
Video with school in Bacha.
Henning knows a family there who has a café, and they were busy preparing our lunch when we came. After lunch we had a short rest and at two o’clock we were ready for the next walking. This time we walked downhill to another of the ethnic villages – Black Mong. On the way we could buy their needlework in many places and a group of women followed us to begin with but we felt we had bought enough and they did not walk along with us very far.
Walking uphill is always hard, but walking steep downhill can also be quite hard and sometimes there were uneven steps so we had to watch out. But nevertheless we had time to admire the beautiful landscape that surrounded us. The sun has not been out today but that only meant that we could walk without sweat running down our faces all the time. We passed a very fine waterfall and also crossed a couple of suspension bridges that swayed dangerously when we got to the middle of them. When we got to the bottom of the valley Henning had ordered 10 motor bikers to come and drive us back to Sa Pa. I had been a bit nervous about the arrangement but as soon as I was sitting behind Nam which was the name of my driver and had a good grip round his waist I quite liked the ride. We were back at the hotel by 4 o’clock. There were a few things to see in Sa Pa that we had not yet seen so some went to have a look at a fine catholic church while others went to a park with orchids or maybe just relaxed. Dinner will be at 7.30 and tomorrow we leave beautiful Sa Pa.
Sunday 11 May
We got up early and were ready to leave Sa Pa at 6.30 am. We did not have a very long drive ahead of us – at least not if you think of the km we had to drive which was just a stretch of 80 km. But we had to climb down from the highland in Sa Pa which takes time although most of the road is in good condition. Then we had to drive along the border to China and on that road there is a lot of roadwork which of course reduces your speed and at last we had to climb up another mountain to Bac Ha. Not only was this road narrow and steep but there was also roadwork going on for several km. which meant that our average speed was very low, but the scenery on the way was breathtaking. We arrived in Bac Ha about 10 o’clock.
Bac Ha is known because there is a big ethnic market there every Sunday and as soon as we had checked in at our nice hotel we went down to have a look at the market. We have seen so much now that we were not prepared to buy everything and we have become quite good at bargaining. It is a very big market with animals, food and all kind of needlework and clothes. You feel at once that they are not used to so many tourists as in Sa Pa so they were not so aggressive when they tried to sell their goods. Back at the hotel you could have different kinds of massage and some of us found that it was time for some luxury so we spent a couple of hours there. At 2 in the afternoon we met again to go for a walk in the area and visit a very special man – Mr. Ho.
He lives higher up on the mountain and on the way up there we gave away some of the jumpers from Fredericia. We had promised one to one of the women working at the hotel that has a son of three or four. On the way we found out that she had two married brothers living nearby - also with small children – so we went into more houses to give away our jumpers which they were very pleased to have. When we came to the house of the woman from the hotel we were all invited in to have a cup of tea. It was hot and a long way to go, and when we got to Mr. Ho’s house he was not at home. He was attending a wedding but his wife was in and at once set out to fetch him. A little later he came swaying or staggering up the lane and greeted Henning heartily. We all had to come in and sit down and taste his corn whisky which he sells for 30.000 dong for 1 ½ l. He poured a whisky for one at a time and you had to drink it all in one go which amused him very much and he at once filled the glass again. He also played and danced for us and all the time he smiled and laughed. Our guide bought some corn whisky which his wife poured into plastic bottles and then we walked back to the town again. We are relaxing now before we dine at the hotel at 8 o’clock.
Monday 12 May
Travelling in Vietnam is different to anything I have known before. We spent the day returning from our trip in the North. When we drove from Sa Pa to Bac Ha we came a little closer to Hanoi so instead of 400 km we only had 360 km to drive today. We left Bac Ha as early as 6.30. But as the first part of the drive was to get down from the height of 1300 m on narrow roads and as there was a lot of road work, it meant difficult and slow driving. It is really not the traffic that makes you go slowly, but the bad roads, but in return nature gives you so much to enjoy which helps a lot. When we stopped for a lunch break our average speed was only 25 km an hour. Nevertheless our driver drove too fast through a town and the police fined him for it. He had to pay 500.000 dong which was done at once, and since he drove for us we paid the fine for him. When you travel here you see things that remind you of pictures from the good old days. We saw boys on water buffaloes taking them to the field – a man with a huge bunch of ducks in a cage on his bike –rice fields with just a single woman with her characteristic hat on working quietly – people in their tiny stalls waiting for customers – lots of school children on their way to or from school – two on one bike very often.
You see nice houses, small and very simple houses thatched with straw and everywhere you see people - on their way or sitting in small groups – talking. You don’s see a lot of cars but that is just as well since the roads are so narrow. On such a long drive as today we saw an ambulance only once and luckily we had no accidents ourselves and only saw one incident on the way when a girl fell because a moped came too close. Now we are back at our hotel in Hanoi again. We have also returned to the heat so we turned on the air-condition at once. We are tired just now but it will soon pass when we have a nice meal.